Date: February 4, 2021 / Media Contact: Valerie Ibarra (628)249-7946 Valerie.Ibarra@sfgov.org SF Public Defender Launches ‘The Adachi Project’ First-of-Its-Kind Media Initiative Spotlights Public Defenders and Underrepresented Perspectives of theCriminal Legal System in Tribute to Late-Public Defender and Filmmaker Jeff Adachi SAN FRANCISCO – Today, the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office launched “The Adachi Project”, a...Read More
‘They Didn’t Listen to Us’: ICE Detainee Who Waged Hunger Strikes for COVID-19 Protections Gets Virus Our 20-year-old client, Juan Jose Erazo Romero, who fled violence in El Salvador as a teenager and is being held by ICE at the Yuba County Jail Immigration Detention facility, has gone on multiple hunger strikes to protest the...Read More
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 13, 2021 MEDIA CONTACTS: Valerie Ibarra – San Francisco Public Defender’s Office – (628)249-7946 – Valerie.Ibarra@sfgov.org; Lindsey Hortenstine – New Orleans Public Defender’s Office – (404)520-3087 – LHortenstine@opdla.org; Bob McGovern, Massachusetts Committee for Public Counsel Services, rmcgovern@publiccounsel.net; Daniel Ball, Brooklyn Defender Services, dball@bds.org Public Defenders Nationwide Announce Plan for Immigration Justice, Provide...Read More
ICE Ordered To Protect Detainees From COVID-19 In Calif. Jail Jennifer Doherty in Law360 reported on the latest in the Zepeda-Rivas joint class action lawsuit against ICE. Federal Judge Vincent Chhabria extended court oversight of ICE over their ongoing failure and avoidance to plan and carry out safety protocols to protect people’s health at the...Read More
Attorneys urge Gov. Newsom to stop involuntary transfers from San Quentin prison After a Federal Judge ordered the population of San Quentin State Prison to be reduced by 50% in order to protect people from the coronavirus which has claimed the lives 28 incarcerated people and 1 corrections officer at the facility, advocates learned that...Read More
Amid virus outbreaks, majority of medically high-risk prisoners were not considered for release In an SF Chronicle Exclusive, Nora Mishanec reported that despite calls from health officials and activists to reduce the state prison population in the midst of the deadly COVID-19 pandemic, the state did not prioritize the medically-vulnerable who are often older and...Read More
Grand jury indicts SFPD officer in connection with 2019 shooting Megan Cassidy reported in the SF Chronicle that a grand jury had indicted SFPD Officer Christopher Flores for shooting Jamaica Hampton while he was on the ground after another SFPD officer had shot him on a Mission District street. The injuries resulted in Jamaica Hampton...Read More
Bob Egelko reported in the San Francisco Chronicle on the latest development in an ongoing joint class action lawsuit against I.C.E. regarding its response to the COVID-19 pandemic at two California immigrant detention facilities. On December 3, 2020, Federal Judge Vincent Chhabria called the conduct of officials at I.C.E. and GEO Group – the private...Read More
December 3, 2020 MEDIA CONTACTS: San Francisco Public Defender’s Office, Valerie.Ibarra@sfgov.org, (628)249-7946 ACLU SoCal Communications & Media Advocacy, communications@aclusocal.org, 626-755-4129 Court Slams ICE for Handling of COVID at Mesa Verde Blistering Order Cites Lies and ‘Deliberate Indifference’ to the Safety of Detainees SAN FRANCISCO — In a blistering federal court decision handed down today on the treatment of people...Read More
November 18, 2020 Press Contact: SF Public Defender’s Office – Valerie.Ibarra@sfgov.org – (628)249-7946 San Francisco Public Defender Launches “CopWatch SF” Database to Ensure Public Access to Available Police Records SAN FRANCISCO – This morning, the San Francisco Public Defender’s “CopWatch SF” database went live, making available hundreds of public records about police and sheriffs. What...Read More
